The Big Day

....to find out details and for updates tomorrow...make sure you check:
http://www.babyjellybeans.com/web/do/site/home?ID=566228 Thanks for all the prayers....keep them coming!!

Due Date

Well, today is officially this little one's due date....where is she? Still happy and content inside her mama!! I am hoping that maybe things will progress today but if not I will at the docs early tomorrow morning to check things out and have an ultrasound...never had one this late in the game! Will give you an update tomorrow....so ready to hold and meet this little one and wondering what she will look like....for some more fun polls about her weight, length and hair...check out her site at:
http://www.babyjellybeans.com/web/do/site/poll?ID=566241

Opposite Ends

....of pregnancy. The beginning (Caitlin at 8 weeks) and the end (me at 40 weeks)!!!

Silly

Angelica loved playing in my mom's boots last night....and was acting very silly....and Aunt Caitlin thought she was a bit crazy!

Fun with Friends

My family has been blessed with a visit by our good friend Jackie this past week. We met and got to be very close with she and her family when we lived in Virginia Beach...and she is also my confirmation sponsor. She is one of the funniest and most sincere people I know....I don't want her to leave Sunday...especially since we were all hoping she could meet this little baby before she left...so unless we have news tomorrow...I will have to send her a pic. The girls have loved taking pictures with her camera phone and learning Spanish from her!! We will miss you Jackie!

Saving Some

...just in case I get hungry later.

A Couple Cute Ones

Thanks Casey...a couple more cute ones from Halloween.

The Kitsap Kittens

We had two of the cutest ever kittens in Kitsap County the other night for Halloween. Angelica and Emma wore costumes that my Meme (their Great Meme) made for me and my sister when we were little...so special. I will have to try and find a picture of me to compare. The girls were so excited to go trick or treating and came back with a ton of candy which they were eager to dump out, inspect and devour! Emma loved saying Meow and Angelica informed me that she said thank you to everyone. Now to ration out the candy over the next several weeks...it does come in handy for some bribery when necessary! Thanks Meme for the costumes...maybe next year they can be the bees or cabbage patch kids!

Decorating Disaster?

Start with a nice clean table and clean supplies....give some cookies, icing and candy and end up with black-fingered, icing crusted mouths but very HAPPY kiddies. They loved decorating their Halloween cookies and I think their strategy was...decorate some, eat some, play some and repeat. I used this Royal Icing recipe again for the second year and love it!!! If anyone wants a cookie....stop by!

My Little Cookie Helper

For the second year now, I have used this recipe (Brown Sugar Cutouts) to make our Halloween cookies. It is very easy and quite tasty!! Angelica loves to "help" in the kitchen and this year she actually did all the cookie shapes herself and even tried to help roll out the dough...although she did enjoy some nibbles along the way!

Pumpkin Time

This year we had three pumpkins to carve....the girls painted their little pumpkins. We decided to let Angelica help draw face ideas on her doodle board for two of the pumpkins and then we used the pro-life template from American Life League to do the third carving of the unborn baby. Appropriate for the month of October and for us as we eagerly await the arrival of our little one. So while Jason did most of the work, Angelica enjoyed using the little tools to carve her pieces as well...and loved the finished products. Emma slept and woke up excited to see pumpkins lit up and carved!!

Harvesting the Seeds

The girls had a really fun time this year helping scrape the pumpkins out and harvest all the seeds for cooking. Emma wasn't wild about the "squishy stuff" but did a good job helping. Even with as much work as it is, we LOVE eating the pumpkin seeds every year and I was shocked that both the girls like them too...and they are so healthy for you! I have put together my own recipe and it is a huge hit!! YUMMERS. Note to self: when you are drying the seeds though after rinsing before cooking, do not put on paper towels as they will stick and not be fun to pry apart! Recipe I use now: Separate and rinse seeds as clean from pulp as possible, let dry. Preheat oven to 350. Spray pan. Depending on how many seeds you have you adjust recipe to taste, sorry no real measurements. This year we had 3 pumpkins. I melted couple TBs of butter, bit of Worcestershire sauce, Season Salt, garlic powder and TB or so of brown sugar. Mix and then pour over seeds in bowl and coat. Then spread on pan and bake for at least 40 minutes or so, stirring occasionally and checking to see when they look nice and brown. Then I put on wax paper to dry and then snack all week long!! Enjoy.

Interesting Swine Flu Reads

Building Cathedrals had an interesting POST on the swine flu vaccination and the comments were good. We have decided a long time ago that we will never have the kids get the nasal sprays (it is a LIVE virus) and just too many known side effects. And this year we are opting NOT to get any of the H1N1 vaccines anyways for many reasons....many of which I agree with in this interesting read:
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/11/03/What-We-Have-Learned-About-the-Great-Swine-Flu-Pandemic.aspx

So far we have stayed very healthy which is a huge blessing with expecting a newborn any minute. Hope you and yours are feeling well and if sick getting better!!!

Update

Mostly leaving detailed updates on baby's website (sidebar) in the journal...so please take a look and leave a message.

Monday I had an appointment (39 weeks) and 3 cm dilated and 60% effaced...OB said head low and ready to go so hoping water breaks soon. Last night I had 3 long hours of contractions and today has been sporadic. Not sleeping....tired...anxious...uncomfortable...come on baby!! If I make it to my due date (unchartered territory for me) which is Sunday, then Monday I go in for a non-stress test and ultrasound to monitor baby and check fluids...then see what the doc says!!! Prayers please!!

School Days

Along with the different learning activities we do at our house, we are getting together with a friend every couple weeks for letter lessons and school fun. We try to learn two new letters each time, read corresponding books to whatever we are learning, do an art project or two and have lunch together. So this time we decided to do letters B and P. We did P so that we could "P"aint our "p"umpkins we got at the patch the previous week. Angelica wanted to paint EVERY inch of her pumpkin and Emma was not happy when we had to put the paints away....way too much fun. Then I picked up some frames at Michaels and foam stickers and let them decorate the frames with a "p"icture we took from the patch field trip. Again, Angel tries to cover every free space that there is.

The other letter we did was B mostly because it was Eddie's "B"irthday that day!! My friend has the Handwriting Without Tears manual and we use the worksheets from there, I am going to have to get...really great! Then we also practice making letters with Play-Dough and cardboard pieces. Angel is doing really well. Then the girls got to decorate cupcakes with icing and candy for Eddie's birthday and of course it was more tempting to eat the goodies along the way than to decorate. Really enjoying these lessons and fun to share with friends. Next week I think we are doing letters F for Fall and E. We swap houses each time so that each person prepares more for the crafts and hosts the lunch.